Dynamic Polymers

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 November 2022) | Viewed by 8491

Special Issue Editor

State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: dynamic covalent polymer; bond exchange; plasticity; recycling; reprocessing; topological transformation; shape-shifting; stimuli-responsive polymer; shape memory polymer; liquid crystalline elastomer; ceramic; transparent glass

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Dynamic polymers with dynamic covalent or non-covalent bonds have attracted increasing attention for their unique roles in various areas. Among these, chemical recycling, reprocessing, and self-healing have been mostly extended in the past few decades due to sustainable societal development. Beyond that, bond exchangeability of dynamic polymers leads to unparalleled design in polymer composition, topological structure, or physical properties which show important applications in functional materials. With the growing number of dynamic chemistries being studied, various new unignorable problems have emerged, including performance reduction after reprocessing, easiness of creep of self-healing materials, etc.

This Special Issue will cover the wide range of research in the field from the dynamic enabling chemistries, special network designs, new mechanisms, and potential applications. Materials containing dynamic molecules, dynamic oligomers, and dynamic networks are all included. Research works and reviews are both welcome.

Dr. Ning Zheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dynamic covalent polymer
  • supramolecular polymer
  • bond exchange
  • self-assembling
  • self-healing
  • recycling
  • reprocessing
  • topological transformation
  • stimuli-responsive polymer
  • shape shifting

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

10 pages, 4065 KiB  
Communication
Heterogeneous Solid-State Plasticity of a Multi-Functional Metallo-Supramolecular Shape-Memory Polymer towards Arbitrary Shape Programming
by Guancong Chen and Di Chen
Polymers 2022, 14(8), 1598; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14081598 - 14 Apr 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1743
Abstract
Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) exhibit notable shape-shifting behaviors under environmental stimulations. In a specific shape-memory cycle, the material can be temporarily fixed at diverse geometries while recovering to the same permanent shape driven by the elastic network, which somewhat limits the versatility of SMPs. [...] Read more.
Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) exhibit notable shape-shifting behaviors under environmental stimulations. In a specific shape-memory cycle, the material can be temporarily fixed at diverse geometries while recovering to the same permanent shape driven by the elastic network, which somewhat limits the versatility of SMPs. Via dynamic metallo-supramolecular interactions, herein, we report a multi-functional shape-memory polymer with tunable permanent shapes. The network is constructed by the metallic coordination of a four-armed polycaprolactone with a melting temperature of 54 °C. Owing to the thermo-induced stress relaxation through the bond exchange, the SMPs can be repeatedly programmed into different geometries in their solid state and show the self-welding feature. Via further welding of films crosslinked by different ions, it will present heterogeneous solid-state plasticity, and a more sophisticated shape can be created after the uniform thermal treatment. With elasticity and plasticity in the same network, the SMPs will display programmable shape-shifting behaviors. Additionally, the used material can be recast into a new film which retains the thermo-induced plasticity. Overall, we establish a novel strategy to manipulate the permanent shapes of SMPs through solid-state plasticity and develop a multi-functional shape-shifting material that has many practical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Polymers)
Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 3118 KiB  
Article
Dual Transient Networks of Polymer and Micellar Chains: Structure and Viscoelastic Synergy
by Sébastien Roland, Guillaume Miquelard-Garnier, Andrey V. Shibaev, Anna L. Aleshina, Alexis Chennevière, Olga Matsarskaia, Cyrille Sollogoub, Olga E. Philippova and Ilias Iliopoulos
Polymers 2021, 13(23), 4255; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13234255 - 04 Dec 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1991
Abstract
Dual transient networks were prepared by mixing highly charged long wormlike micelles of surfactants with polysaccharide chains of hydroxypropyl guar above the entanglement concentration for each of the components. The wormlike micelles were composed of two oppositely charged surfactants potassium oleate and n-octyltrimethylammonium [...] Read more.
Dual transient networks were prepared by mixing highly charged long wormlike micelles of surfactants with polysaccharide chains of hydroxypropyl guar above the entanglement concentration for each of the components. The wormlike micelles were composed of two oppositely charged surfactants potassium oleate and n-octyltrimethylammonium bromide with a large excess of anionic surfactant. The system is macroscopically homogeneous over a wide range of polymer and surfactant concentrations, which is attributed to a stabilizing effect of surfactants counterions that try to occupy as much volume as possible in order to gain in translational entropy. At the same time, by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) combined with ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (USANS), a microphase separation with the formation of polymer-rich and surfactant-rich domains was detected. Rheological studies in the linear viscoelastic regime revealed a synergistic 180-fold enhancement of viscosity and 65-fold increase of the longest relaxation time in comparison with the individual components. This effect was attributed to the local increase in concentration of both components trying to avoid contact with each other, which makes the micelles longer and increases the number of intermicellar and interpolymer entanglements. The enhanced rheological properties of this novel system based on industrially important polymer hold great potential for applications in personal care products, oil recovery and many other fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Polymers)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

24 pages, 1419 KiB  
Review
Review of Recent Developments of Glass Transition in PVC Nanocomposites
by Jolanta Tomaszewska, Tomasz Sterzyński, Aneta Woźniak-Braszak and Michał Banaszak
Polymers 2021, 13(24), 4336; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13244336 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3927
Abstract
This review addresses the impact of different nanoadditives on the glass transition temperature (Tg) of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is a widely used industrial polymer. The relatively high Tg limits its temperature-dependent applications. The objective of the review is to present [...] Read more.
This review addresses the impact of different nanoadditives on the glass transition temperature (Tg) of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is a widely used industrial polymer. The relatively high Tg limits its temperature-dependent applications. The objective of the review is to present the state-of-the-art knowledge on the influence of nanofillers of various origins and dimensions on the Tg of the PVC. The Tg variations induced by added nanofillers can be probed mostly by such experimental techniques as thermomechanical analysis (TMA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dielectric thermal analysis (DETA). The increase in Tg is commonly associated with the use of mineral and carbonaceous nanofillers. In this case, a rise in the concentration of nanoadditives leads to an increase in the Tg due to a restraint of the PVC macromolecular chain’s mobility. The lowering of Tg may be attributed to the well-known plasticizing effect, which is a consequence of the incorporation of oligomeric silsesquioxanes to the polymeric matrix. It has been well established that the variation in the Tg value depends also on the chemical modification of nanofillers and their incorporation into the PVC matrix. This review may be an inspiration for further investigation of nanofillers’ effect on the PVC glass transition temperature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamic Polymers)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop